ABSTRACT
Secure vascular access is central to the delivery of many aspects of modern medical care. In 1628, William Harvey described the heart and circulation in detail. This provided the anatomical basis for subsequent vascular interventions. By the early 1900s, intravenous therapy was becoming established, replacing proctoclysis and cutaneoclysis as a means of delivering fluids and drugs to patients. Effective antimicrobials, chemotherapeutic agents, parenteral nutrition, and the evolution of a culture of intensive care are among the medical advances that have encouraged the development of innovative strategies for vascular access in children over the last 60 years. This group of procedures is now one of the most common performed by pediatric surgeons.
